Man arrested for molesting female civil cop on ISL duty

Published at :October 18, 2022 at 9:59 PM

Modified at :December 13, 2023 at 1:01 PM

(Courtesy : Siasat)

The incident took place during the Yellow Army’s crushing defeat at the hands of the Mariners.

A 35-year-old man has been arrested for groping a woman police officer who was on duty for the Indian Super League (ISL) clash between the Kerala Blasters and ATK Mohun Bagan on Sunday at the JLN Stadium in Kochi.

According to a report by The New Indian Express, the incident took place around 8:30 PM when Arun M Thomas of Kanjikkuzhi, a resident of Bengaluru, misbehaved with the woman civil police officer. He allegedly touched her inappropriately and then fled after being apprehended.

A police officer who was witness to the incident said, “She attempted to block him but he twisted her arms, injuring her”. Thankfully, with the help of another officer, the man was taken into custody and a case under IPC sections 353 (assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage her modesty), 353A (physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) were filed. All of the above are non-bailable offences.

An isolated incident

One of the police officers has assured that women can safely attend football matches in Kochi as this incident is an isolated one. Otherwise, football fans do not behave in such an uncivil way. He said, “A police officer said the victim was in a state of shock. We will produce the accused before the court. Usually, fans coming for football matches in Kochi never indulge in such acts. This is an isolated incident. Women can come to the stadium to watch football matches without any apprehension,” said the officer.

A major concern that comes to light after this incident is the long duty hours of police officers during ISL duty. Usually, police personnel are deployed at the stadium from 11 am to late at night. The 5-2 loss for the KBFC fanbase was difficult to digest, however behaving in such a way with women police officers deserves to be condemned by all.